


Just a Touch

by aj_linguistik



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), ソードアート・オンライン - 川原礫 | Sword Art Online - Kawahara Reki
Genre: 2k Words for 2k Kudos, A Possible What If Eugeo Didn't Permanently Die, AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fanfic Request, M/M, One Shot, The T is for implied violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-06 02:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20499653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aj_linguistik/pseuds/aj_linguistik
Summary: A request from my tumblr 2k Words for 2k Kudos.At RATH, they've collected the right data to piece back together someone very important to Kirito in hopes that he can help restore Kirigaya Kazuto's damaged Fluctlight. And he's more than willing, but that willingness stems from more than just a desire to save a friend.





	1. Just a Touch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Oakentide](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oakentide/gifts).

> A/N: Coming to the end of the line with the 2k for 2k requests! It's been a fun first week in my new home doing these requests! (Annnnd I'm sick. aljksdljga;). This was fun to write, playing with the perspective as well as the specificities of the prompt. I hope you all enjoy! ^-^

“We need your help to restore Kirigaya. That’s the most basic way to put it.”

There was static for a moment, and then a voice responded, sounding wary and possibly frightened.

“I-I’m not sure I follow…who’s Kirigaya?”

He straightened up in his chair. So far, so good.

“Kirigaya Kazuto. Our data indicates that you were nearby when damage happened to his Fluctlight. Ah, but you don’t know what a Fluctlight is.”

A man in a kimono placed his hand on his seated coworker’s shoulder.

“Higa, wait.”

The voice spoke up again, this time clearly afraid.

“I can’t…I can’t see anything…who’s Kirigaya? Where am I?”

The man in the kimono frowned up at the big screen in front of him. It had taken a lot of work on Higa’s part to harvest this data—the data of someone very close to Kazuto’s heart. He felt a slight bit of guilt for putting this artificial Fluctlight in such a situation, where he had no body and no sensory input other than sound. It must have been horrifying.

“Try to stay calm. You probably might know Kirigaya by a different name. Sometimes he goes by ‘Kirito.’ Is that name familiar to you?”

It should be, he hoped. Their data had revealed that they’d messed up Kirigaya’s dive. He was completely aware of himself inside of the Soul Translator. But that wasn’t important. What was important was that this Fluctlight, a reconstruction of a deceased Fluctlight known as Eugeo based off of stray data left behind, recognized Kirigaya in some format still.

The voice hummed in thought.

“How do you know Kirito?”

He smiled.

“Wow, you knew the right keyword, didn’t you, Kikuoka?”

Higa gave him a thumbs’ up. He turned his attention back to the screen.

“Kirito is from our world. Does this make sense?”

The voice hummed again.

“I think…I think so. Administrator mentioned Kirito being from a different world. I’m confused. I can’t see anything.”

Kikuoka tried his best to sound reassuring.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to see soon enough. I don’t know that you’ll understand all of this, but my interest is in saving Kirito’s life. If you agree to comply, we will transfer your Fluctlight—your soul, so to speak—into one of our administrative accounts. The account’s name is Vector. With the account, you’ll have certain privileges that will hopefully allow you to find Kirito and restore his Fluctlight. Are you following?”

There was a pause.

“I don’t quite understand,” he said. “But I’ll do anything to help Kirito. Just tell me what I need to do.”

Kikuoka and Higa shared a grin. This just might work.

“When you come to, you’re going to be in the Dark Territory. Since you will be in command of the Vector ID, the residents will likely obey you. I can’t give too much of a guarantee on that, but you’ll have more power than them. Kirito is presently in Rulid. You’ll have to reenter the Human Empire through the gate in the east.”

He gave a huff.

“Gate in the east? I’m following so far.”

Kikuoka nodded.

“Good, good. This is going to kickstart a Final Stress Test. Basically, the Human Empire will think you’re attacking. You might have to fight through them to get to Kirito.”

Eugeo didn’t seem to be wavered by the thought.

“We’re already criminals in the eyes of the church. I would have run away to the Dark Territory with him because of our rebellion. Fighting through the Integrity Knights won’t be any different this time.”

Laughing, Kikuoka crossed his arms, shook his head, and smirked up at the screen.

“How bold of you.”

The boy wasn’t done.

“Once I reach Kirito, what do I have to do? I don’t know anything about…Fluct…”

Kikuoka drew in a deep breath.

“For the ease of your lack of understanding for how our world works, Kirito’s soul is damaged. All you have to do is fix what was damaged—soul data. Something like a touch might be sufficient. In fact, a touch might be best. His mind is blocked off, but his body is still receiving sensory input. Touching him is sure to stimulate him.”

He could almost feel the artificial Fluctlight nodding at him.

“That sounds simple enough.”

Kikuoka huffed.

“So, you’ll accept this mission?”

There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in the young man’s voice.

“Without question.”

Higa started to furiously type on the keypad in front of him.

“Best of luck to you, then,” he said, casting a nervous glance up at the screen. “I’m going to transfer your Fluctlight into the Vector ID now. Please remain calm.”

The audio line went dead. Kikuoka looked down at Higa and waited. After a few minutes, Higa looked up to meet his gaze and gave him a curt nod.

“His Fluctlight safely was logged into the Vector super-account. Here’s hoping he is able to help Kirigaya.”

Kikuoka smiled and patted his colleague on the shoulder.

“He’ll do just fine. I know it.”

* * *

The sensation of regaining a physical form was difficult for him to place. When talking to the two people he couldn’t see, his only active sense had been sound. His senses seemed to turn on one by one following a high-pitched sound. He only knew, when his sight returned to him at last, that he was in the Dark Territory. Where within it was anyone’s guess. The strange, faceless men hadn’t been all-too specific.

A woman dressed too scantily for her to be Axiom church clergy slowly approached him. The way she held herself might suggest that she intended to seduce him to get what she wanted. He didn’t care about that. He was back in this world to find Kirito and save him. The woman bowed to him slowly.

“Emperor…Vector…I presume?” she said. “I anticipated your arrival.”

She must be someone important to Vector. Eugeo had never thought of Vector as more than a god; here, he seemed to just be the ruler of the Dark Territory, based on the way this woman approached him so casually. He picked himself up. He’d been sitting, it seemed. He took a glance down at his body. Strange clothes, the likes of which he couldn’t easily describe—they were nothing like the clothing of the Human Empire. They were dark colors and draped him like robes. Somehow, he found himself laughing.

_Darker colors always suited Kirito better_, he thought.

“Does something amuse you, my lord?” the woman asked.

Eugeo straightened up. He didn’t know how to talk to her. “With authority” was the obvious answer here. But Eugeo’s only experience with being a figure of authority extended to mentoring his page, Tiese. This woman clearly wasn’t a swordswoman-in-training of powerless noble background. The way she held herself suggested that she, too, held authority over someone. He just had to assert himself as the superior here. Otherwise, she might walk all over him.

“There’s someone I need to reach in the Human Empire.”

The woman’s eyes widened.

“Are you suggesting an attack, Emperor Vector?”

He didn’t like that name. It reminded him of darkness. No, that wasn’t quite it. That’s what he’d called Kirito when he’d first met him, not realizing that his friend wasn’t really someone with no memory—a lost child of Vector. Funny, that a darkness god’s name should bring Kirito to mind. Kirito wasn’t someone filled with darkness.

Or was he?

Those men had spoken of saving his Fluctlight—they’d used that term to refer to the human soul. A funny, foreign-sounding word to Eugeo’s ears. Something was wrong with Kirito’s soul. What else could that be but darkness? He had the key to fixing it. His own touch. He gazed down at his hand for a brief moment, feeling devastated that he couldn’t just appear before him now and brush his fingers against Kirito’s skin. How could he explain this situation—this need to reach out and touch Kirito and save him from the darkness—to this woman, whose name he didn’t even know?

Their eyes met. She was testing him. Her words indicated that she knew him to be her leader, but her body language tipped him off that he needed to be wary. She _wanted_ an attack. And according to the men he’d spoken with before, an attack would have to happen in order for him to reach Kirito. What other choice did he have, then? He gave her a curt nod.

“I don’t see any other way of getting to him,” Eugeo said. “Integrity Knights will likely stand in our way. They’re guarding him in the north.”

The woman shifted her weight.

“Our only way to attack is through the gate on the eastern border of the mountains,” she said. “You plan to fight your way into the north?”

Eugeo nodded once more, this time with more feeling.

“I do.”

He turned to fully face her, making sure to stand at his full height.

“What is your name?”

Her lips curled up into a smile. She bowed again.

“D.I.L., Emperor Vector,” she said. “The leader of the Dark Arts guild.”

He had to keep himself from shuddering at the thought of dark arts. They were likely the Dark Territory’s answer to sacred arts. He might not be able to get away with using sacred arts around her, although he hoped he wouldn’t have to delve into that.

“Well, then, D.I.L.,” he said. “We shouldn’t wait around here. We have an empire to invade.”

If he kept his eye on the goal, then, and only then, would he be redeemed.

* * *

All of this chaos for the sake of one man. The burning feeling that used to throb in his eye when he went against the Taboo Index was long gone—now, he just felt guilt as he stared at the battle before him. He’d caused this. He was only acting this way for his mission, and he kept telling himself that he couldn’t distract himself from the goal. This was no different than going against the Axiom Church, after all.

The further he plowed through the battlefield, the more his desire to reach out and touch Kirito grew. He barely understood this feeling. At what point had he lost sight of saving his soul? He barely thought of that. The thought of his hand grasping Kirito’s once more drove him onwards. The thought gnawed at his consciousness, impeding his thoughts.

A knight he wasn’t familiar with flew at him, tossing what looked like a throwing knife at him. Eugeo lifted his sword and deflected it. This Vector account or whatever those men had called it proved its worth in battle. His strength might have been more in this instance than it when he himself was converted into an Integrity Knight. He was grateful that it would likely keep him alive until he reached Kirito.

The knight wasn’t finished with him after that, though. He, a young boy who had to be physically a handful of years younger than Eugeo, threw a second knife out. The first one glided back to his hand. He reached out and plucked it out of the air expertly. If not for the obvious flinch in his eyes, Eugeo might have thought he didn’t fear such a sharp, deadly weapon at all. Eugeo slowly approached the boy.

“I don’t want to kill you,” he said. “Kirito wouldn’t like that.”

The boy’s eyes widened just a little bit.

“Kiri…to?”

Eugeo pointed his sword at the young knight. He couldn’t hurt him. Even if he was wrong. Whatever they’d done to Kirito, he knew, deep down, that Kirito would protest killing even a single one of these knights.

_“They’re fighting for what they think is right, too.”_

His fingers gripped the sword tightly.

“Please. Let me pass.”

The boy stared at him, wide-eyed and unsure of what to do. Eugeo’s sword wavered uncertainly. This boy could strike him down here and now. His hesitation was all the knight needed in order to slay him. But the boy was frozen, as if Eugeo cast a spell on him. He stood there, still as a stone, until finally, his lips moved.

“What do you want with Kirito?”

“RENRI!”

Before Eugeo could respond to the boy, another knight flew at him from his left. He thrust his sword up to block the incoming blow. Blonde hair whipped in the wind and golden armor glinted at him, both wrapped around a woman whose deep, blue eyes were filled with righteous anger. He did his best not to falter when he recognized her. He had to defend himself. This wasn’t about her anymore. This was about Kirito! Kirito was the one he wanted to hold!

“Let…me…PASS!” he shouted, digging his heels into the ground.

He shoved her sword back, putting his full strength into pushing against her brute force. She glared into his eyes. He glared back. Her scowl deepened for a moment, but then, to his surprise, her brow softened.

“Please…let me pass…” he whispered.

There was no way she could hear him. His words had been too quiet. His plea had been tossed to the wind—a selfish desire that only he could care about. There was no way Alice, the woman standing between him and Kirito, would understand this. He prepared himself for an attack when he felt her pull back, but she just dropped her sword and stared at him in disbelief.

Eugeo’s chance was now. He had both of their attention.

“I don’t want to hurt either of you.”

Alice took a step forward. Eugeo lifted his sword, aiming it at her neck.

“But I will if you force me to.”

She took another step forward.

“Your eyes…” she breathed.

He winced. He lowered his sword just a bit. She stopped about an arm’s length away from him. Her mouth was open in shock.

“Eu…Eugeo?”


	2. Kirito's Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Due to WILDLY popular demand coming from a lot of different readers in comments and DMs and on Tumblr- I've written up a conclusion. Please note that the original requestor did not wish for a conclusion, so this should be seen as separate from his request, merely inspired by it. Please give Oakentide credit for the idea!

Every muscle in his body tensed up. She’d recognized him? But how? This wasn’t the same Alice that he’d known as a child. She was just an afterimage, the body and features of his friend with a different person trapped inside. She couldn’t possibly have known it was him just by looking at him. Alice Synthesis Thirty had seen very little of him during his arrest and rebellion in the cathedral.

“M-Miss Alice…he said he wants to see Kirito,” Renri said, casting him a wary glance.

Alice visibly stiffened up for a moment, but then her features softened. She stepped forward and swatted his sword aside as if it were nothing. He sucked his teeth. He shouldn’t have loosened his grip when she’d said his name. He didn’t want to be here, having this conversation. He needed to be close to Kirito.

As Alice approached him, he tried to swing up to attack her, forgetting himself. The only thought in his mind was Kirito. He had to see Kirito. Kirito. Kirito. Kirito. He couldn’t remember his noble mission. Alice was in his way. He must cut her down. She was stalling him. His sword flew at her, unable to recognize her as a friend any longer.

“Eugeo, there’s no need to fight anymore!” Alice cried.

His sword froze. It remained in the air, so close to her neck that the tip of the blade might slice it open if she turned her head. Their eyes locked. She reached up and grasped his sword, forcing it away from her body. His body began to quiver, wanting to be pushed onwards by his goal. Alice grasped his forearm, steadying him.

“It’s okay, Eugeo,” she said softly. “I can take you to him.”

He stared into her eyes numbly. He’d done all of this to get to Kirito and she simply agreed to take him to see him? It didn’t make sense. He’d started a war. He’d shed blood. His goal had turned from a simple task into a gnawing obsession. It could not be this simple. Eugeo didn’t want to believe her.

Yet she reached out her hand to him. Her weapon remained in its sheath now, no longer an opponent. If she could satisfy his desire to merely touch Kirito, perhaps this burning in his chest might go away. He shakily lowered his weapon. Alice gave him a strangely forgiving smile. He hesitated, holding his hand out to her. She met him halfway, grasping his palm.

“Just promise me that you’ll stop this,” she said. “This war is hurting people, Eugeo. It isn’t what Kirito would want.”

His heart quivered in his chest. What was fighting against his drive to push forward with his mission? He’d started this journey wanting to simply tear down the barrier between the Human Empire and the Dark Territory. That had been the only way, right? The two strange men so long ago…they’d told him to reenter the Human Empire through the gate in the east.

If he stopped to breathe and think about it, that wasn’t the only answer. He’d been so filled with determination and desire that he hadn’t spent time thinking it through himself. He could have crossed the mountains alone. He could have done exactly what those goblins had done back when he’d first met Kirito. His body began to shake.

Was he truly so blinded by his desire for Kirito? Tears formed at the corners of his eyes. All he wanted was Kirito. He’d lost all sense of himself and his goal, choosing to follow a plan laid out for him by someone else he didn’t even know. His knees gave out and he fell to the ground, letting out a cry of horror at himself.

“I can’t face him now…” he cried.

His sins against Kirito would never cease, would they? This grand scheme to save Kirito, done all for the sake of cleaning out the stain in his soul from turning traitor on his closest friend whom he held so dearly, had only led him to more transgressions. If only he were worthy to reach out and grasp the fabric of his tunic!

But Kirito fought for the souls of the Human Empire even being someone from another world beyond this one. Pure-hearted, valiant Kirito. He couldn’t bring himself to find fault with him—sure, he’d hidden that his memories were intact, but he’d given Eugeo his all. What kind of a person did that? A hero.

Alice knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder. He slowly lifted his head, staring at her through eyes blurred from the tears spilling out of them. Her face remained unreadable. He wiped away his tears, trying to get a better look at her expression, trying to figure it all out.

“You have to,” she said. “It’s our only hope for Kirito. Please. Face him. Bring him out of the darkness.”

Eugeo dropped his head back into his hands and shook his head. He wanted to. Oh, how desperately he wanted to! But Kirito deserved light. He wasn’t light. His heart had long since been muddied by the darkness. Desire run afoul tainted his soul. He couldn’t pull him from the darkness like this.

Yet when Alice pulled him to his feet, he didn’t offer a verbal protest. He numbly stood and kept his eyes to the ground as she guided him. She called out to Renri, asking that he protect them from the battle going on around them. Eugeo had quite forgotten at this point that a war occurred all around them.

His head felt as if it were cut off from the rest of the world, shutting out sounds and sights other than Alice’s back before him. She dragged him along by the hand, as one might pull a cart filled with inanimate things. His feet plodded along. His mind fed him all of the doubt and regrets he wanted to bottle up and throw away in his fighting fury—that he’d never been good enough to save Kirito, no matter what anyone said.

* * *

The place they brought him was a tent. No, not a tent—a covered cart. Alice finally let go of his hand and turned to face him, her expression now rather grim. She stretched out her hand to him, giving him a firm look.

“Your weapon,” she said.

Eugeo tensed up.

“I won’t have you approaching him with the sword you used to kill so many innocent people,” she said. “You must go in as simply yourself. Take off your armor. Lay down your sword. You are not the person you’re showing me, and I know this.”

She pressed a hand to her chest and turned her gaze down to the dirt at their feet. Eugeo felt his heart begin to race as he listened to her words. She spoke as if the guise of Emperor Vector was merely someone else; he couldn’t possibly be the same person as Eugeo. How kind, yet cruel, of her to presume Eugeo wasn’t the criminal who’d started a war just to feel the warmth of Kirito’s skin against his fingers.

“You died for humanity,” she said. “Just because you’ve made mistakes, it doesn’t erase what you did for all of us. The light in you that gave your life for the Human Empire is the same light that Kirito likely always saw in you. That’s the light that needs to return to him now. Your parting left him in the dark, Eugeo.”

She lifted her chin and thrust her arm outwards.

“You are his light, Eugeo!”

And suddenly, his heart stopped. Her words were unfathomable. Him? A light? His soul didn’t want to believe it. Yet why, then, did he slowly begin to strip himself of his armor. Each piece fell off of him as he unstrapped it, falling to the ground with a loud thud. With each piece removed, he felt himself grow lighter, both in the literal sense and deep in his troubled soul.

_ I am his light. I am his light._

He fought the demons in his mind that tried to tell him otherwise. His passionate desire bubbled up in his chest once more, blotting out the negative thoughts telling him he had to stay away from his beloved.

Ah. His beloved. His brow furrowed.

_ That’s right. I love him. He’s my best friend. My hero. The person I gave my heart to._

He grasped the sword and tossed it on the ground. His eyes met Alice’s. She nodded, approving. She then turned on her heel and stepped up the ladder into the cart and pulled aside the fabric, allowing him entry at last. Eugeo glanced over at Renri, who jumped a little, but smiled and nodded at him. He took a step forward.

Now, his heart beat so fast in his chest that he felt it might burst through his ribs. He clutched the fabric of his shirt and took a deep breath as he stepped forward. This was the moment he’d been waiting for. Finally, he would see the face of the person he longed for. His steps up into the cart were slow and labored. Eugeo entered the space; Alice dropped the fabric, closing them into the space. She pointed to her right. He turned his head to the left and turned to face his host.

A cry of sorrow almost immediately escaped his mouth as he gazed upon Kirito. Bent over limply in his chair, his remaining arm clutched twin sheathed blades with all of the energy he had left. His body looked gaunt and sickly, and his eyes were so empty and void of emotion that Eugeo found it hard to imagine Kirito’s soul even still resided inside of them. He staggered over to him, reaching out one shaking hand.

“K-Kirito…” he cried.

The man didn’t respond. His only movement was the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Eugeo dropped down to his knees in front of his hero, devastated at the sight of his fall from greatness. His shaking hand reached out and hovered over Kirito’s hand as it clutched the two swords.

_ I’m scared._

What if this didn’t work? He swallowed his fear. It had to work. If it didn’t then what had Eugeo survived for? What had he sinned for? He eased his fingers down onto Kirito’s thinned hand and registered the coolness of his skin. He pressed his hand against him and prayed, to whatever powers might be out there, that this would work.

But nothing happened.

“They said touching would work,” Eugeo said, his voice choked up by tears. “They said just to touch him!”

He wanted to lash out at the two men who’d spoken to him. They’d lied to him. His hopes had been played with like a fool. He clutched Kirito’s hand and rested his arm across his knees. He lowered his head onto his arm and let out a wail. It couldn’t end like this.

“Eugeo, I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but I thought you would speak to him…” she said, trailing off.

He shook his head. Clearly, Kirito wasn’t going to respond to speech if he wasn’t responding to touch. His mind was blocked off from the world. There was no hope in this. He’d probably just been used as a pawn to start this war, a toy played with by gods who didn’t care what happened to him. Without anything left to say, he heard Alice leave the cart. It was just him and his beloved, there alone.

“They lied to me, Kirito…” he mumbled.

He felt the cold hand beneath his twitch. He jerked his head upwards and stared at Kirito’s lifeless face. For a painful minute, he waited for another sign of life. It must have been his imagination. He pushed himself up onto his feet, keeping his hand on top of Kirito’s for as long as he could. His green eyes filled with tears again.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

If he was already gone, then all he had left to do was bid him farewell. Eugeo bent over, lifted Kirito’s chin with his hand, and then gently pressed his lips into Kirito’s as he closed his eyes. This would be his final farewell. An apology. A declaration of love, given much too late.

But as he moved to remove his lips, he felt cool, trembling fingers against his cheek. Eugeo opened his eyes. Kirito’s hand was really pressed against his cheek, trying to pull him closer to kiss him back. In shock, Eugeo numbly accepted the return kiss. When they parted, Kirito’s eyes slipped open. Their sparkle had returned.

“Ki…Kirito…” Eugeo stammered.

“I knew…you’d come find me…Eugeo…”

Eugeo threw his arms around his frail Kirito, unable to restrain himself. He clutched him to his chest and sobbed.

_ “You’re his light, Eugeo!”_

He nodded and kissed the side of Kirito’s head. Maybe he could believe that after all.


End file.
